KL Rahul and Bhuvneshwar Kumar will play in the next round of Ranji Trophy matches, with an eye on selection in the India side for the last three Tests against England

Arun Venugopal10-Nov-2016India opener KL Rahul and seamer Bhuvneshwar Kumar will play the next round of Ranji Trophy matches beginning on November 13, after missing the major part of the New Zealand series with injuries.Bhuvneshwar confirmed to ESPNcricinfo that he would turn out for Uttar Pradesh against Mumbai in Mysore, and Karnataka coach J Arun Kumar said Rahul would join the team on November 10 ahead of their Group B clash against Rajasthan in Vizianagaram. With the tournament nearing its home stretch, both teams, especially Uttar Pradesh who are third from the bottom in Group A, will welcome the return of key players.Shikhar Dhawan is likely to play the round beginning on November 21, when Delhi play Rajasthan in Wayanad. He made 1 and 17 in the only Test he played against New Zealand, in Kolkata, before sustaining a fracture in his left thumb after being struck twice by Trent Boult on the third day. He was subsequently ruled out of the third Test in Indore and the limited-overs contests.Rahul and Bhuvneshwar haven’t played competitive cricket for over a month, and will therefore be keen to prove their match fitness in the Ranji Trophy, in line with India coach Anil Kumble’s policy. Good performances there could put them in line for selection in India’s side for the last three Tests against England.Rahul’s most recent game was the first Test against New Zealand in Kanpur, where he injured his hamstring while running between the wickets. He missed the remaining two Tests and the subsequent five-match ODI series. He has since undergone rehabilitation before being picked for the game against Mumbai.Rahul had been in fine form prior to his injury, scoring a 158 in Jamaica and a half-century in St Lucia, before smashing an unbeaten 51-ball 110 in the first T20I against West Indies in Florida. He also had a productive tour of Zimbabwe in June, when he made his ODI debut and scored 196 runs in three matches, including a century.Bhuvneshwar picked up a back strain in the second Test, in Kolkata, where his five-for in the first innings gave India a substantial lead and set up a 178-run win. It was his second five-wicket haul in three matches – the first one came against West Indies in St Lucia, which was his first Test in over 19 months.

The Australia opener copped a blow while fielding at short leg on day three of the Sydney Test

Brydon Coverdale at the SCG05-Jan-2017Australia have withdrawn their opening batsman Matt Renshaw from the remainder of the Sydney Test due to concussion.Renshaw suffered two blows to the helmet during the first three days of the Test. On day one, while batting on the score of 91, Renshaw was hit on the grille when he failed to evade a bouncer from Mohammad Amir, although he was cleared at the time by team doctor Peter Brukner and batted on to complete his maiden Test century.On the third day, Renshaw was fielding at short leg when Pakistan batsman Sarfraz Ahmed attacked a delivery from spinner Steve O’Keefe, and Renshaw was again hit on the helmet. Although he stayed on the field until the end of the next over, Renshaw then headed to Australia’s rooms for assessment and reported that he was suffering from a headache.”Matthew Renshaw was struck on the helmet fielding close-in on Thursday afternoon and came off complaining of a headache,” Brukner said on the fourth morning. “He rested in the dressing room and then, when we returned to the hotel, we performed concussion tests and his cognitive, balance, co-ordination and reaction times were all within normal limits.”However, on Friday morning he was still symptomatic and so we have taken the decision to withdraw him from the match as he is suffering from concussion. We will continue to monitor him over the coming days and work with him to produce a gradual return to play.”As a long-form specialist at this stage of his career, Renshaw is not currently signed to a BBL team and after this Test would have had a quiet period anyway ahead of the tour of India next month.

England are a formidable batting side, and India need all their bowling nous for what is expected to be a high-scoring, series-deciding clash in Bangalore

The Preview by Akshay Gopalakrishnan31-Jan-2017

Match facts

Wednesday, February 1, 2017
Start time 1900 local (1330 GMT)3:27

‘Time for DRS in T20s’ – Root

Big picture

It is not often that India have to contend with their batting being a weakness but ahead of the deciding T20I in Bangalore – which only gained that status courtesy Jasprit Bumrah’s bowling – that seems to be the case. The line-up is not quite as deep as it tends to be in Test cricket and their losing wickets a little too frequently hasn’t helped, leading to totals such as 147 and 144. A good partnership at the top of the order could do nicely with the trophy on the line.England have coped well despite injuries. David Willey was ruled out after damaging his left shoulder in the final ODI and Alex Hales had to board an early flight out with a broken hand. It is testament to their limited-overs bench strength that they go into the final match on an even keel. Chris Jordan’s death bowling has stood out while Moeen Ali has improved on his most economical four-over performance in consecutive matches.India haven’t yet won a bilateral T20 series against England, with their two-match series in 2012-13 ending in a stalemate, and England coming out on top in three previous one-off clashes. There was a distinct chance of this record staying intact but an umpiring error “shifted momentum” away from the visitors. Eoin Morgan has raised the issue with the match referee, but might well prefer to do most of his talking on the field so that England can return home with at least one piece of silverware after a long and difficult tour.

Form guide

(last five completed matches, most recent first)India WLLWW
England LWLWLJasprit Bumrah’s slog-overs bowling could be key to India’s chances•AFP

In the spotlight

Jasprit Bumrah‘s intelligent variations of pace resulted in several swing-and-miss moments, leaving England frustrated in Nagpur. In two overs at the slog, he conceded just four runs, and took out Root and Buttler in the 20th to win the game. India would love a spell like that in Bangalore, a place notorious for producing run gluts.Sam Billings has not shown his full potential in this series. He could very well find himself back on the bench again when Hales regains his fitness. But with one more chance to impress the selectors – with the series up for grabs – his future could yet be in his control.

Team news

India don’t have reason to change much. Yuzvendra Chahal should keep his place in the XI, considering he will be on home turf having played for Royal Challengers Bangalore since 2014 in the IPL. Amit Mishra did well in Nagpur and would be hopeful of another start as well. Considering the must-win nature of this game, it is likely Rishabh Pant will spend his first series with Indian team on the sidelines.India (probable) 1 Virat Kohli (capt), 2 KL Rahul, 3 Suresh Raina, 4 Yuvraj Singh, 5 Manish Pandey, 6 MS Dhoni (wk), 7 Hardik Pandya, 8 Amit Mishra, 9 Jasprit Bumrah, 10 Ashish Nehra, 11 Yuzvendra ChahalEngland’s batsmen struggled on a sluggish pitch in Nagpur, but should relish the one at the M Chinnaswamy stadium, famous for its true-paced nature. Liam Dawson, though, might have reason to complain, for he may find himself replaced by a fast bowler, possibly Liam Plunkett, in light of the ground’s short boundaries.England (probable) 1 Jason Roy, 2 Sam Billings, 3 Joe Root, 4 Eoin Morgan (capt), 5 Ben Stokes, 6 Jos Buttler (wk), 7 Moeen Ali, 8 Chris Jordan, 9 Liam Dawson/Liam Plunkett, 10 Tymal Mills, 11 Adil Rashid

Pitch and conditions

With a new outfield, the Chinnaswamy stadium is all set to host its first match since the IPL final in May last year. That match had over 400 runs scored. A flat deck and small boundaries could produce the highest totals in this series yet. The weather is expected to stay clear through the match.

Stats and trivia

• India have played three bilateral series involving three T20Is before this and have won each of them.
• Ashish Nehra has taken the most wickets among India bowlers in the Powerplay. He surpassed R Ashwin with his dismissals of the England openers in Nagpur.
• Out of England’s current squad, only Eoin Morgan, Jos Buttler and Chris Jordan have played at the Chinnaswamy stadium in the past.

Pakistan’s current ODI captain will miss the side’s next fixture in the format, against West Indies in April-May 2017

ESPNcricinfo staff27-Jan-2017Pakistan’s ODI captain Azhar Ali has been given a one-match suspension by the ICC for his side’s slow over rate during the fifth ODI against Australia in Adelaide on Sunday. Azhar will miss Pakistan’s next ODI, on the tour of West Indies in April.Azhar was also docked 40% of his match fee, while the players were fined 20%, after Pakistan were found to be two overs short of their target once time allowances were taken into consideration. Thursday’s match was Azhar’s second minor over-rate offence in ODIs over the last 12 months: on January 31, he was fined 20% of his match fee after a game against New Zealand in Auckland. Azhar was also fined 100% of his match fee during a Test against New Zealand in Hamilton in November, when he was stand-in captain in Misbah-ul-Haq’s absence.The charge was laid by on-field umpires Simon Fry and C Shamshuddin, third umpire Chris Gaffaney, and fourth official Sam Nogajski, and came at the end of a disappointing series for Azhar. Pakistan were beaten 4-1, after Australia’s 57-run win in the fifth match, even as Azhar struggled with the bat and his fitness. He scored 24 runs in the first ODI before missing two matches due to a hamstring niggle. On his return, he scored 7 and 6 in the last two ODIs.The result in Australia, and a shaky tenure as captain during which Pakistan dropped to ninth on the ODI rankings, may result in Azhar being axed from the role. It is learned that PCB chairman Shaharyar Khan, chief selector Inzamam-ul-Haq and Mushtaq Ahmed, the head coach at the National Cricket Academy are united in their belief that Sarfraz Ahmed, who leads Pakistan’s T20 side, should take over the ODI captaincy.

Ross Taylor struck his 17th ODI century and Trent Boult produced 3 for 63, helping New Zealand scrape to a six-run, series-levelling victory against South Africa in Christchurch

The Report by Andrew McGlashan21-Feb-2017
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsRoss Taylor was the fourth New Zealand batsman to reach 6000 ODI runs•AFP

South Africa’s lower order threatened another heist, but Trent Boult gave a glimpse of why he went for big money in the IPL by holding his nerve to help New Zealand secure a series-levelling six-run victory in Christchurch. Dwaine Pretorius’ 26-ball fifty almost wrestled the game away from New Zealand until Boult got his yorkers on target in the penultimate over. He then cleaned up Pretorius to make amends for dropping him in the deep on 15.The win should have been much more comfortable for New Zealand when South Africa slipped to 214 for 8, but after Pretorius was shelled he kept finding the boundary. It came down to needing 20 off two overs when Boult, who had earlier claimed the key scalps of Quinton de Kock and AB de Villiers but conceded 15 off his ninth over, only went for five runs of his last. Andile Phehlukwayo was unable to locate the boundary early in the last over bowled by Tim Southee – and did not trust Imran Tahir with the strike – as South Africa’s winning streak ended at 12.It meant that Ross Taylor’s record-breaking day did not come in vain. He became New Zealand’s leading ODI century-maker, and the country’s quickest batsman to reach 6000 runs in the process, while adding the innings-defining stand of 123 with Jimmy Neesham.While Boult earned a mega payday 48 hours ago, Taylor was not picked in the auction: his T20 cricket is not valued by country or franchise at the moment. His absence from New Zealand’s side has been a topic of much debate, but in the longer white-ball format he is playing as well as ever. He equalled Nathan Astle’s 16 centuries against Australia, at Hamilton, earlier this month and went one better off the final ball of the innings when he drilled Wayne Parnell through the covers.Taylor added 104 with Kane Williamson, their 11th century stand in ODIs, to set the base for the innings. Then, Neesham struck a timely 45-ball half-century which helped New Zealand add 89 in the final ten overs. The Hagley Oval pitch was slower than usual due to recent poor weather, so while five of the previous nine first-innings totals on the ground had been over 300, this one was more than workable.However with David Miller back after his finger injury and Phehlukwayo at No. 10 (Kagiso Rabada was ruled out with a knee niggle), South Africa’s batting order was even more imposing. But New Zealand kept chipping away. Southee produced an unplayable delivery to trap Hashim Amla lbw and Colin de Grandhomme nipped one back to defeat Faf du Plessis.JP Duminy was sent in at No. 4 ahead of de Villiers – for tactical purposes it was said – but having eased to 34 he was beaten in the flight by Mitchell Santner: a chance for a match-defining innings had slipped away. The same could be said of de Kock, for the second match running, after he had glided to his fifty from 59 balls before heaving Boult deep into the leg side.A hallmark of South Africa’s winning streak has been having someone in the top order take responsibility for an innings but that wasn’t the case in Christchurch. Miller, after his spell on sidelines, couldn’t quite find his timing before edging Ish Sodhi’s googly and de Villiers under-edged a pull against Boult in his first over back in the attack.Trent Boult and Tim Southee sealed the victory by executing their yorkers in the final overs•AFP

When Chris Morris was smartly run out by a back-handed flick from Dean Brownlie and Parnell lbw to Santner, there seemed very little chance for South Africa only for late drama. New Zealand would have struggled to recover if they had let this one slip away.It had not been easy going for them when they were put in. Tom Latham’s tricky run continued, softly clipping a leg-stump delivery from Parnell to square leg. It made his run in ODIs – since the 137 against Bangladesh on this ground – 2, 0, 0, 7, 4 and 22, potentially leaving him vulnerable when Martin Guptill returns from injury.There was caution from Williamson and Taylor at the start of their partnership, but Williamson broke the shackles when he bunted Phehlukwayo over wide mid-on at the end of the 19th over. The next 11 overs brought 73 runs – Williamson reaching his second fifty of the series off 59 deliveries – to leave New Zealand with a strong platform of 155 for 2 after 30 overs.The innings threatened to lose its way when Williamson picked out long-on against Imran Tahir and Neil Broom collected his second failure of the series to leave the onus very much on Taylor.The boundary that took him to fifty off 60 balls also brought up the 6000-run milestone and alongside Neesham, whose position had been coming under scrutiny, they ensured the wobble did not become a collapse. Neesham was the first to take on the bowling inside the final ten overs, which helped take the pressure off Taylor, as he took on Tahir’s last two overs and also played a blistering pull off Morris.Taylor began the final over on 95 but lost the strike off the first ball and only got it back with two deliveries remaining. A meaty swing at the penultimate ball sent it sailing towards long-on where Miller took a fabulous catch but, sliding round the boundary, thought he would touch the rope and flicked the ball back so it became two runs. The final ball of the innings was wide outside off and Taylor thumped it through the covers to wild applause from the sellout crowd. They were cheering again a few hours later.

Headingley’s future as a Test venue appears to have been assured, following a funding agreement between Yorkshire County Cricket Club and Leeds City Council over the redevelopment of the ground’s rugby stand

ESPNcricinfo staff28-Mar-2017Headingley’s future as a Test venue appears to have been assured, following a funding agreement between Yorkshire and Leeds City Council over the redevelopment of the ground’s rugby stand that has served a dual purpose for cricket and rugby clubs over the past 84 years.Without the agreement, the ground’s future would have been in immediate peril. The club, already £24 million in debt, required council support to fulfil their £17 million share of a £32 million joint redevelopment with Leeds Rhinos, without which, the ECB had indicated, the ground could not be awarded any international fixtures beyond 2019.Now, however, Leeds City Council has brokered a £35m investment from a London-based investment group, subject to final approval by the authority’s executive board. The investors have proposed to build the new stands and rent them back to the cricket and rugby clubs.The agreement follows a sizeable public outcry following the council’s decision to withdraw the promise of a £4m grant to Yorkshire as it drew up its £2bn budget in a febrile atmosphere in which central government cutbacks sparked an internal row within the ruling Labour group over the closure of three are homes.Yorkshire were also at loggerheads over the proposed term of any private loan which councils are able to obtain at preferential rates compared to the open market.”I’m delighted we’ve found a solution that will ensure Headingley continues to enjoy full international sporting status,”
Councillor Judith Blake, leader of Leeds City Council, said.”Subject to the final approval of the council’s executive board, this will deliver the funding to redevelop the stadium in full. The money will be provided by a private financial services company at no cost to the council tax payer, which offers the best and most viable option moving forward.”Mark Arthur, Yorkshire’s chief executive, said: “We would like to thank councillor Judith Blake and Leeds City Council for their support in reaching this point. There is still a way to go, however, it is a significant step in securing the future of international cricket at Headingley.”Yorkshire County Cricket Club will continue to work hard to ensure that all remaining funds are in place to ensure that the redevelopment is completed in time for the Cricket World Cup in 2019.”Gary Hetherington, chief executive of Leeds Rhinos, added: “We have been working closely with Leeds City Council and partners to find a solution to ensure international sport continues at Headingley Carnegie for many years to come and we appreciate all the effort and commitment put in by Leeds City Council to broker this deal.”There is still much to do but recent developments are very encouraging and could provide the funding mechanism to complete the redevelopment work.”

The ICC’s new constitution moved a step closer to reality on a dramatic late afternoon in Dubai, as cricket’s Full Members exercised their collective will to outvote the BCCI

Nagraj Gollapudi26-Apr-2017The ICC’s new constitution moved a step closer to reality on a dramatic afternoon in Dubai, as cricket’s Full Members exercised their collective will to outvote the BCCI.The Indian board was the only Full Member to object to the new financial model, and was one of only two Full Members to vote against the new governance changes. The financial model, with which the BCCI has been unhappy, received overwhelming support from Full Members, who voted to pass it 9-1 in favour, while the proposed governance changes to in the new constitution were passed by an 8-2 margin.The next step as far as implementing the constitution now will come at the annual conference in June, where it will be approved formally after being ratified. That day will mark the formal end of the Big Three era, two years after it came into effect.The day’s biggest reverberations will come from the failure of the BCCI to push through a financial model they could be happy with. Indeed, not only did they fail to get the $570 million cut from ICC revenues that they demanded when they arrived in Dubai, they failed to secure the compromise offer that the ICC chairman Shashank Manohar had put forward.In that, he was willing to up their share by approximately $100 million. Instead, in the model that has been voted through the Indian board’s share from ICC revenues in the next rights cycle will be $293 million, a little more than half the amount the Indian board wanted.The behind-the-scenes developments in how BCCI was muscled out offer an intriguing contrast to past ICC meetings where the BCCI has held sway. Manohar arrived in Dubai last weekend and is understood to have had lengthy meetings with BCCI office bearers as well its chief executive Rahul Johri. The ICC’s compromise offer, which would fetch the BCCI nearly $400 million, was made to Choudhury by Manohar, the most prominent figure behind the new changes. That deal, incidentally, was one the BCCI’s Committee of Administrators (CoA) – which is overseeing the board’s operations -was happy with when Manohar ran it by them in March.The BCCI was asked to respond on Monday, as the ICC working group was meeting to finalise the resolutions based on the feedback given by all Member boards including the Associates. The BCCI then approached most of the major Full Members with their counter offer: they get $570 million but none of the other Full Members get anything less than what they were assured in Manohar’s model. But the other Full Members stood firm and rejected the BCCI’s offer, leaving the Indian board in a tight position hours before the ICC Board meeting began on Wednesday morning.”The alternative left for them was to adopt the middle ground,” one official familiar with the situation said. The BCCI was told it would do well to consider Manohar’s offer. “It is INR 700 crore ($100 million), and they were told to consider hard before making a move.”Another source said: “Shashank was trying to get them (BCCI) across the line, but they declined.”Though BCCI office bearers have previously blamed Manohar for harming their interests, Choudhury did not take an aggressive stance during the ICC Board meeting. Officials present said he was “friendly and very charming,” and that he said though he wanted to find a solution he had to disagree with the finance model and the governance structure.”He was restating the BCCI’s reservations expressed last month,” one source said. Neither Choudhury nor any of the BCCI administrators in India made a statement in response to the developments in Dubai. According to PTI, the BCCI will call a special general meeting to decide on the next step.Ultimately, only marginally less significant than the financial model going through was the fact that a major portion of the governance changes did so as well, and with such majority: only Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) joined the BCCI in not supporting it. Some will be tweaked and the ICC did agree to remove one significant proposal – the potential reclassification of Full Member status to Associate membership if a set of criteria was not met when a board was evaluated. Many Full Members including the Bangladesh Cricket Board, Zimbabwe Cricket and SLC were against it.But also approved was a resolution to expand the composition of the ICC Board which sees an increase in the number of votes from 10 (Full Members only) to 15 – 10 Full Members, three Associates, one independent female director, and the chairman. Potentially, that could change the nature of decision-making at the highest levels of the game, making it more difficult for just one or two boards to dominate. On the day at least, that message resonated loudest.

Chris Woakes could miss the first two Tests against South Africa due to the side strain which ruled him out of the Champions Trophy

ESPNcricinfo staff06-Jun-2017Chris Woakes could miss the first two Tests against South Africa due to the side strain which ruled him out of the Champions Trophy.The recovery timeframe is four to six weeks, with Woakes admitting it is likely to be the longer end of that scale before he returns to the field. It means he is all but confirmed to miss the opening Test against South Africa, which begins at Lord’s on July 6, and probably the second as well, which comes hot on the heels at Trent Bridge on July 13.Even if Woakes was able to bowl by then, he would have had no competitive action in which to prove his fitness. Another issue could be that the NatWest Blast will dominate the domestic schedule at that time, so Woakes may be limited to four-overs spells ahead of a potential return in the third Test at Old Trafford on July 27.”It’s a left side strain and there is a tear in the muscle,” Woakes said at a Chance to Shine event. “It’s a grade-two injury, which is not terrible news, but it’s not great news at the same time.”They say it’s roughly a four- to six-week injury, and it’s more likely to be towards the six when I am back playing competitive cricket. I’m on day five of my recovery now, and the physios say for the first 10 to 14 days there’s not a lot we can do other than rest it.”You don’t rule it out, but I’m probably up against it for the first Test. Sometimes these things heal quicker, sometimes they take longer, so we have to play it by ear.”It’s also one of those things you can’t rush back – if you do, it can just ping again. You have to make sure you’re right before you come back. The timing of it is frustrating, it’s terrible, but it’s one of those things.”Woakes took 34 wickets in six home Tests last year – 26 of them in the four-match series against Pakistan – although the five Tests he played on the tours of Bangladesh and India were tougher as he claimed just six wickets.James Anderson is also under a fitness cloud after suffering a groin injury last month playing for Lancashire, although he has returned to gentle training.Anderson, Woakes and Stuart Broad would have been England’s likely front-line pace attack to start the South Africa series, supplemented by Ben Stokes and Moeen Ali, but there could also be question-marks over the workload Stokes can sustain in Tests due to his troublesome knee. If reinforcements are needed, Mark Wood, Jake Ball, Steven Finn and Toby Roland-Jones would be in the mix.

Luke Ronchi struck the third fastest half-century in T20 in England, but Durham’s captain Paul Coughlin could still celebrate a first Durham win

ECB Reporters Network28-Jul-2017Paul Coughlin (right) played a key role with bat and ball•Getty Images

Durham captain Paul Coughlin led the bottom club to their first win of the NatWest T20 Blast North Group campaign at the expense of Leicestershire in a match shortened by rain to seven overs a side in Leicester.A stunning innings of 63 not out from 21 balls from opener Luke Ronchi should have put the Foxes in an impregnable position after acting captain Colin Ackermann won the toss and chose to bat first on a good pitch.The New Zealander hit 10 fours and two sixes, reaching his 50 off just 16 deliveries, equalling the third fastest half-century in domestic T20 cricket, behind only Marcus Trescothick (13 deliveries) for Somerset and Gerard Brophy
(14) for Yorkshire.But the sixth over of the Foxes innings, bowled by young seamer Barry McCarthy, yielded only one run as Tom Wells swung and missed, opening the door for the visitors.Durham quickly lost two wickets in their reply, but Coughlin (38 not out off 18 balls) and the experienced Paul Collingwood (34 of 18) added 76 runs for the third wicket, hit from just 33 balls. Both were dropped, Coughlin a
skier by Gavin Griffiths at point, and Collingwood a chest-high caught and bowled chance to Cameron Delport.Although Collingwood and Jack Burnham were run out off successive deliveries in the final over, Coughlin sliced the penultimate delivery to the third man boundary to complete a remarkable win.It meant a third home defeat in a row for Leicestershire, whose four-match away winning run to start the campaign is now a distant memory.

Alex Hales might be overlooked by England at Test level, but he blazed a trail for Notts at Trent Bridge with a century to overhaul a formidable Yorkshire score

ECB Reporters Network30-Jul-2017Alex Hales’ century helped Notts chase a formidable target [file picture]•Getty Images

An explosive century from Alex Hales led Notts Outlaws to a thrilling victory over Yorkshire Vikings in their NatWest T20 Blast meeting at Trent Bridge.Hales scored 101, his first hundred for the county, as Notts completed a record run chase to defeat the Vikings by five wickets with five balls remaining.Yorkshire had posted 223 for 5, with Adam Lyth scoring 59, one of five top order batsmen to register 28 or more, after the visitors had been invited to bat first.Amidst the carnage Samit Patel maintained creditable figures of three for 29 but there was little joy for any of the other bowlers to celebrate as Yorkshire plundered 10 sixes in their 20 overs.Requiring more than 11 runs an over Notts got off to a flying start with Hales and Riki Wessels putting on 87 in the first 5.4 overs before Wessels fell to Azeem Rafiq for 34.Tom Moores, promoted to No 3 in the order, was unluckily run out by a direct hit from David Willey, who threw down the stumps from 60 yards.Hales reached his hundred from 45 balls, heaving four huge sixes and 14 fours, before falling shortly afterwards, lofting Willey to deep midwicket, to leave the score on 177 for 3 in the 15th over.Brendan Taylor made 41, having put on 83 with Hales, before being trapped lbw by Rashid. Outlaws’ captain Dan Christian hit a quickfire 24 but when he fell 17 were still needed from the final two overs.Steven Mullaney immediately calmed any nerves amongst the home supporters by twice lifting the ball over the ropes, including the winning blow from the bowling of Tim Bresnan.Earlier, Tom Kohler-Cadmore made 37 in an opening partnership of 83 with Lyth, a stand that was broken by Mullaney, with the first ball of the seventh over.Australian internationals Shaun Marsh, who made 47, and Peter Handscomb, 31, added 68 from 35 balls and the final lustre to the Vikings’ innings was supplied by Jack Leaning’s 16-ball unbeaten 28.Notts had never successfully chased anything higher than 207 before but thanks to Hales’ magnificent effort they accomplished the feat with time to spare.Despite the loss Yorkshire remain top of the North Group but the table is so tight that sixth -placed Notts are only two points behind them, with a game in hand.